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Dr. Oz Is Now Criticizing John Fetterman For Not Eating Enough Veggies, Which Will Surely Endear Him More To Cheesesteak-Loving PA Voters And The MAGA Base

There have been countless creative missteps in the congressional campaign of Dr. Mehmet Oz, but one was so bad it hurt him twice: His surreally misguided video about supermarket-shopping for “crudité.” He recorded it in April, and John Oliver was quick to demolish it. It was back in the news four months later as a late summer surprise, embarrassing Oz even more the second time. But it appears the TV star-turned-flailing candidate wants to keep it in the news, while showing what insensitive jerks he and his staff can be.

A week after the crudité video once again humiliated Oz, his campaign belatedly provided a what they appeared to think was a quippy comeback. But it wasn’t funny, not even by the trash-talking standards of a Trump-emulating politico.

“If John Fetterman had ever eaten a vegetable in his life, then maybe he wouldn’t have had a major stroke and wouldn’t be in the position of having to lie about it constantly,” Rachel Tripp, Oz’s senior communications advisor, told Insider in a statement.

It’s a jaw-dropping retort from several angles. For one, does Oz even know the Republican base, let alone scrapple-loving Pennsylvanians? If anyone found it funny, it wasn’t because they thought it was some brutal put-down. Instead, it was widely seen as yet another Clouseau-esque blunder by one of the worst political campaigns in memory.

Some pointed out that a doctor, even one as questionable as Dr. Oz, probably shouldn’t be joking about someone having a stroke.

Others thought it showed he was a bad candidate.

https://twitter.com/gelliottmorris/status/1562185908526481409

https://twitter.com/jkfecke/status/1562178003437756417

Others argued he was a bad (alleged) Pennsylvanian, who should know better than to insult the heart of the Snack Belt, and who’s already been roasted by one of Philadelphia’s legendary cheesesteak joints. (At least he didn’t insult Primanti Bros.)

https://twitter.com/timmarchman/status/1562176189862744064

Some called Oz and his campaign staff bad people.

https://twitter.com/steven_metz/status/1562174690944323585

There were assorted jokes.

https://twitter.com/chadloder/status/1562186467073413122

And by the way, Election Day isn’t even until November.

In the meantime, such bizarre antics aren’t going to make the GOP, including its fearless semi-leader, any less mad.

Update: Hours after the quote went live, Fetterman himself weighed in, offering a sincere but forceful condemnation of the Oz team’s classy attack. “I had a stroke. I survived it. I’m truly so grateful to still be here today,” he tweeted. “I know politics can be nasty, but even then, I could *never* imagine ridiculing someone for their health challenges.”